Floating Market - for interest only

The_Traveler · Nov 16, 2013

I was at a floating market in an inlet of Inle Lake in Myanmar.
It draws a lot of people from the ethnic villages around - and of course tourists and those who try to sell to tourists.
Have a look at the man in the third picture and give a guess what he is.

He is a leper, he has Hansen's disease
And the disease is even less inviting in person.
Myanmar

DarkShadow · Nov 17, 2013

I am not familiar with the culture at all and honestly don't know what the man is in the third picture. That said, these are really interesting shots. I think they are very well focused and sharp with true to life colors. Very interesting lives these hard working folks live. Excellent captures.

gaz87 · Nov 17, 2013

Very interesting! Would love to see more...

Also interesting you asked us to guess what he is, rather than what he has got!

manaheim · Nov 17, 2013

All your shots make me think about how little in life I have seen.

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing, Lew.

mmaria · Nov 17, 2013

Does he beg for a living?

I see that bowl in front of him and it makes me think that he is a beggar and you also said that he is a leper. I presume that it's very difficult to earn with that health condition and negative attitude towards it.

weags77 · Nov 17, 2013

manaheim said:
All your shots make me think about how little in life I have seen.

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing, Lew.

My sentiments exactly.

weags77 · Nov 17, 2013

My first inclination of what he is is a priest of some sort. Probably way off and can't think of any reasons why I think that but it's the only thing I keep thinking of when I look at him.

The_Traveler · Nov 17, 2013

Thank you for your looks and comments.

It is interesting how exhausting this kinds of travel can be because any traveler is faced with decisions and new things to see every waking moment. My first solo trip to a culture very different from my own was in 1998 when I returned to Vietnam. I flew in to Ho CHi Minh city with no agenda except to fly out 2 weeks later from Hanoi. About 5 days into the trip I was in Tay Ninh, which is a small city in the hills of SE Vietnam.

It is famous as the seat of the Cao Dai religion, a syncretic religion that includes as its saints Sun Yat-sen, Victor Hugo, Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm and Joan of Arc. While I was there I took a ride with a local guy to see the surrounding countryside. We were on the crest of a hill, looking West, and I could see nothing except rubber trees to the horizon and probably all the way to Cambodia. It struck me that no one within 10,000 miles knew even my last name; what a great, interesting, free feeling.

These pictures are scanned from 4x6 prints taken with a tiny, cheap P&S as that was before I had taken up photography again.

The_Traveler · Nov 17, 2013

bmmision said:
Does he beg for a living?

I see that bowl in front of him and it makes me think that he is a beggar and you also said that he is a leper. I presume that it's very difficult to earn with that health condition and negative attitude towards it.

weags77 said:
My first inclination of what he is is a priest of some sort. Probably way off and can't think of any reasons why I think that but it's the only thing I keep thinking of when I look at him.

He is a leper and lives by begging from people at the market; tourists seem to be a favorite target.

weags77 · Nov 17, 2013

The_Traveler said:
He is a leper and lives by begging from people at the market; tourists seem to be a favorite target.

Yep I was way off.

The first photo of your second posting is awesome.

Coming from someone who hasn't even left the east coast USA, you're willingness to immerse yourself in a completely foreign culture and share your RAW (corny I know) perspective with us, is invaluable in a day and age where so many of us can't even fathom how the other have REALLY lives. Or have this misconception of the harsh realities or natural beauty that rest of the world, outside of Jersey Shore, has to offer.

From a photography standpoint, as a seasoned beginner, I am only just now starting to touch on how to communicate through my photos. And it's people like you that people like me can learn a lot from in this area. It does not go unappreciated.

The_Traveler · Nov 17, 2013

weags77 said:
Coming from someone who hasn't even left the east coast USA, you're willingness to immerse yourself in a completely foreign culture and share your RAW (corny I know) perspective with us, is invaluable in a day and age where so many of us can't even fathom how the other have REALLY lives. Or have this misconception of the harsh realities or natural beauty that rest of the world, outside of Jersey Shore, has to offer.

From a photography standpoint, as a seasoned beginner, I am only just now starting to touch on how to communicate through my photos. And it's people like you that people like me can learn a lot from in this area. It does not go unappreciated.

Weags, you need to get out more. :wink:

Not necessarily out of the country but out of the East Coast.
The American SW is the most amazing eye opener that you can imagine for someone coming from the tiny states of New England.
Thanks for the comments.

Lew

weags77 · Nov 18, 2013

The_Traveler said:
Weags, you need to get out more.

Not necessarily out of the country but out of the East Coast.
The American SW is the most amazing eye opener that you can imagine for someone coming from the tiny states of New England.
Thanks for the comments.

Lew

That is an understatement Lew haha. I don't honestly know if I'd ever come back once I left though haha. I mean I'm constantly impressed by and introduced to things I've never seen or heard of around a place I've lived my whole life. I can imagine a case of sensory overload in some of the more beautiful places this world has to offer.